Search - The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (Limited Issue) on DVD

Shim F.
Reviewed on 3/10/2008...

This is sad.
It's almost as good as number 1.
It's sweet and cute.
Perfect kids movie.

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Surprisingly Good Sequel to the 1994 Classic

Robert J. Schneider | Tacoma, WA USA | 06/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yeah, I know that this direct-to-video sequel was put out to cash in even more so on the original, which itself grossed over $300 in U.S. box office receipts to become the most successful Disney film ever! However, after watching this a couple of years back and revisiting it today, I know that there was another, much better, reason: four years after THE LION KING, we were all missing the characters...and we were hungry for more. As much as us fans of the original did not want the possibility of having the franchise tainted by an inferior sequel, it seemed to be worth the risk.And it was. In 1998, Disney got most of the principal voice-over actors back from the original---Matthew Broderick as Simba, Moira Kelly as Nala, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as Timon & Pumbaa, respectively, and of course, Robert Guillaume as the hilarious Rafiki---and made THE LION KING II: SIMBA'S PRIDE, which follows our favorite Lion hero (and King) & family as they pick up from where they left off in the first film. Now Simba is the King and his young offspring is a lioness cub named Kiara; he's the worried dad in this one, always fearing for the safety of the young precocious girl, but they're nevertheless a happy family just the same. Of course, danger lurks in the shadows, as Zira (Suzanne Pleshette---yes, *that* Suzanne Pleshette), the villainous ex-mate of Scar, is training her young son Kovu to grow up to avenge Scar's death by killing Simba. However, Rafiki, the silly-acting but nevertheless wise monkey, finds out to his horrified amazement that Kiara and Kovu are destined for each other. Sure enough, Kiara and Kovu meet each other as cubs and take an immediate strong liking to each other. Can true love overcome true evil?This film, by itself, is very well-written and acted, with excellent production values for the fact that it is a direct-to-video sequel. It has really no flaws of its own, just one obvious inconsistency between it and the first film: Scar's 'ex-mate' Zira (and, by extension, Kovu) simply did not exist in the original THE LION KING! She was obviously made up just to have a sequel. However, this is the only major thing to overlook, and if you can forgive this movie for it, then you should be able to easily enjoy yourself. As I said, this is a good animated movie, and I recommend it for any fan of the original. This sequel isn't quite as dark; however, I still would not recommend showing it to very young kids. Suzanne Pleshette does a surprisingly good job as the evil, scheming, vengeful Zira (basically a female versdion of old Scar himself). Neve Campbell does a solid job as the voice of the adult Kiara, and Jason Marsden does excellently as the conflicted Kovu, who wants to do good, but...he made a promise to his mother...didn't he?!Listen, THE LION KING II: SIMBA'S PRIDE is not the masterpiece that THE LION KING is...however, it is much better than it perhaps should be. Fans of the original should definitely own it.RECOMMENDED, AGES 8 & UP"

Great finale to a great animated trilogy!

John Lindsey | Socorro, New Mexico USA. | 01/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Set after Lion King and Lion King 1/2, Simba has defeated Scar and got the throne at last. Simba ( voiced by Matthew Broderick) and Nala now have a daughter named "Kiara" whom is the heir of the pridelands, one day while wondering around the pridelands she meets a mysterious lion cub named " Kovu" and becomes friends with him. Unknown to Kiara, Kovu is a young member of the banished outland pride whom were part of Scar's pride. Now there is a war between the prides lead by the dark Zira ( voiced by Suzanne Pleshette), only Kovu ( Jason Marsden) and Kiara ( voiced by Neve Campbell) with their love can straighten things up between the two prides.



Terrific sequel to both " Lion King" and " Lion King 1/2", it's another sequel that proves not all the disney sequels can stink. What works here is that some of the cast members from the original with a new one ( Robert Guillium, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Andy Dick) come back, the animation is theatrical quality on a good level and the soundtrack to it isn't bad at all.



The 2-Disc special edition is great! there are fine extras like " One By One" an all-new animated short from the makers of "Lion King" and " Lilo and Stitch", Timon and Pumbaa's virtual safari 2.0, fun games, pop-up trivia when you play the movie on pop-up triva mode, featurettes and great Picture & Sound quality.



Highly recommended movie but first watch the original then Lion King 1/2 and then this one, i think the Lion King trilogy is probably the "Star Wars Trilogy" of animated trilogies."

The Lion King II - The Best Disney Sequel to Date

lacii | Atlanta, GA USA | 03/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is by far one of the best, if not the best, Disney sequel produced to date. It has sold more copies than any other Disney sequel, and for good reason -- it is a worthy successor to the throne.The animation is high quality, especially for a direct-to-video sequel. Instead of using hand-drawn characters and computers to color the images, TLK2 was done in traditional cel animation, unlike the original Lion King. This makes the movie even more classic, and easily appreciated not only for its wonderful story, but the artwork involved in creating it.The story is stunning and picks up basically where TLK left off. Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, is being raised to become the future queen. In the meantime, she encounters a cub from a tribe of outsiders named Kovu, and they immediatly become friends. However, both of their families stand in the way of their friendship continuing, and they never see each other again until they are adults - and that's where things really get interesting! Zira, the leader of the outsiders and Scar's mate, is trying to kill Simba, and Kovu figures into the plan. In the end, both tribes clash in all out war. You'll just have to watch to see how the story ends.Definitely a worthy sequel to the first, get a copy if you can."